


That's What (Boy)Friends Are For

by PK_Wonderstruck



Category: Mother 1 | EarthBound Zero | EarthBound Beginnings
Genre: Don't worry Ninten's got his back tho, Fluff, Lloyd is struggling bro, M/M, The fastest "I love you" you will ever see like wow I did that so poorly, Who cares this filled my soul with joy and I need some of that in my life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:21:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25850485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PK_Wonderstruck/pseuds/PK_Wonderstruck
Summary: The door would open, blocking the broken laser gun from making it to the other side of the roof. It banged against it, echoing across the building. And from it, a familiar face would emerge.“Lloyd?” Ninten had a puzzled expression on his face. He was wearing a heavy winter coat, with gloves and a hat to protect his ears. The door closed, and Lloyd ran over to Ninten, falling onto him. His body was shaking from the cold and his own emotions as he tried to say something, but couldn’t. He must look stupid, almost crying like this.
Relationships: Lloyd & Ninten (Mother 1), Lloyd/Ninten (Mother 1)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	That's What (Boy)Friends Are For

**Author's Note:**

> Hey look, it's something not Nesscas.  
> This idea came to me so I wrote it. Started as a reflection off of how I view how I overwork myself mentally every single day, but obviously I hate that so I turned it into fluff.   
> I can definitely do better, but I do like this, even if it feels rushed.

The days seemingly got longer each day, the nights even longer. Nighttime wasn’t so bad. The world was his. He was free to do whatever he wanted, without anyone telling him otherwise. If he could, he’d sleep during the day and stay up all night, but he didn’t want to. Then he wouldn’t be able to go to school or talk to his friends since he was sleeping. But that didn’t stop him from staying up late and sleeping in to do what felt necessary. With nothing but the stars and a flashlight to guide his tired eyes, Lloyd worked tirelessly on what was before him, only taking breaks to take off his glasses and rub his eyes, stretch, or look up to the stars for answers. He was supposed to be home hours ago, but no one had heard from him. Not like many were worried anyways, which didn’t seem to bother Lloyd. The rooftop of Twinkle Elementary School was his comfort spot as well as his place of rest. Nights have passed where Lloyd would fall asleep onto the cold hard ground without even realizing it. After waking up shivering, he eventually started bringing a blanket and pillow with him. Today however, he had forgotten both of those things.

Tonight was freezing, in an unexpected and random turn of events, and there was a slight gust of wind. Lloyd was getting frustrated with the cold. There was nothing out here except his good old reliable trash can in the corner. Even with the clothes Lloyd was wearing, the ground’s chilling touch seeped through and reached his skin. His pants, t-shirt, and hoodie weren’t cutting it. In front of him was his trusty laser gun, which had been accidentally damaged. He had disassembled it, fixing what was broken with a new part and trying to put it back together. But with this weather that was going to be nearly impossible. Winter might be fun when it’s snowing, but on days like these Lloyd hated it. He hated how numb his hands felt and how his body was shivering. He hated how his nose was constantly running. If only he knew how cold it was going to be. Now he refused to leave, fueled by the twisted determination to get this done. But his hands could hardly even hold any of the things in front of him, laid out on a towel. Not even the screwdriver. He was almost done, too, as he watched the yellow energy of the gun glow in front of him. He just had to add some screws, make the trigger work, put on the red outside casing, and boom. Yet, sitting here criss crossed in the freezing night, such a simple task was out of his reach. 

He didn’t understand why he was feeling such hatred, much less rage. Was it because of the conditions? Was it because he was overthinking again? Was it how he refused to give up? He was tired of himself. All these expectations have been placed on his shoulders and not once had he amounted to any of them or been given a break. The days of going out on adventures and saving the world, hand in hand with his friends felt long gone. That was only two months ago too. Everyone felt so busy with their lives, including Lloyd, that he didn’t see Ana or Ninten often. He was too busy working. Always working. Never stopping. He couldn’t possibly understand the strain it was putting on him until tonight, when it felt like the entire world was against him. His anger was building up to its limit. Each time he dropped one of the items in front of him, a groan came afterwards. He wasn’t doing good enough. He had never been doing good enough. Ninten, Ana, and Teddy. They were all immensely strong, immensely talented in what they did. Where was he? Left in the dust, that’s where. He hated being smart. People talk about how he has potential, but if he did then where was it? His parents said he was gifted, but this gift felt like a curse. But he never mentioned that. What he felt meant nothing compared to, say, what Ninten felt his family had caused, changing the course of history forever. A gust of wind came out of nowhere, a strong one. Lloyd gasped when he saw various bits and pieces race across the rooftop and fall off the side of the roof. He quickly salvaged what he could, but it was too late. The wind settled. His heart was pounding, and not in a good way. His eyebrows furrowed.

“Why…” Lloyd’s blood was boiling. As best as he could, he tried to clench his fist. He was so tired of being the genius. Of being picked on and forgotten. Being scolded by himself for not doing good enough. It was all so tiring. Was this his fault? He had already let down his friends, hadn’t he? So many things were running through his little head. He grit his teeth, standing up and looking down at the broken laser gun. “Why is this so difficult!” He yelled, not caring how loud he yelled, and kicked the broken gun as hard as he could. A tear ran down his face. He had cracked, a part of his mind chipping away from the amount of pent up stress and pressure. 

The door would open, blocking the broken laser gun from making it to the other side of the roof. It banged against it, echoing across the building. And from it, a familiar face would emerge.

“Lloyd?” Ninten had a puzzled expression on his face. He was wearing a heavy winter coat, with gloves and a hat to protect his ears. The door closed, and Lloyd ran over to Ninten, falling onto him. His body was shaking from the cold and his own emotions as he tried to say something, but couldn’t. He must look stupid, almost crying like this. That’s what his mind told him. “Lloyd are you alright?” Lloyd shook his head no. “Trying to fix something? In this weather?”

“I needed to.” He responded quietly. 

“Says who?”

“Says me.” Ninten looked at the flashlight, and the bits and pieces scattered about. He sighed. This wasn’t the first time Lloyd had acted like this, overworking himself to the brink of collapsing. And this time, he had collapsed.  
“Why don’t we go inside? I turned the lights on.”  
“But-” 

“Don’t worry about your stuff. We can grab it later. Trust me.” Lloyd couldn’t say no to Ninten, nor did he have the strength right now to do so. He felt better, being here in the clutches of his best friend. He felt lifted from all the thoughts which had been nailed into his head. He felt he could tell the world how he was feeling now. Ninten opened the door, keeping an arm swung around Lloyd as they descended down the steps. Lloyd welcomed the warm air which fogged his glasses and made his hands throb. He desperately needed it. He slowly reached up and wiped his glasses. 

“How did you know I was here?” With the wave of his hand, Ninten magically unlocked one of the doors and opened it for Lloyd.

“Well I was doing a night stroll, because I couldn’t sleep, you know me. I walked alllllll the way here, and that’s when I noticed the door to the school was open. So I came up to the roof to see if you were there again and lo and behold, you were.” There were large bean bags in the corner. Lloyd sat in one of them, sinking into it with a yawn. “Mind if I ask why you were trying to mess with your gadgets on one of the coldest nights of the year?”

“...” Lloyd hesitated. He had the words right on the tip of his tongue, even opening his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Confusion was written all over his face. “I can’t.” Ninten handed him a tissue, which Lloyd blew into. With telekinesis Ninten placed it in the trash can. Despite Lloyd’s bad mood, Ninten was smiling. 

“Hey, stay right here. I’ll be back in a jiffy.” Without another word Ninten ran out of the room, not giving Lloyd the chance to protest. He’d stare at the ceiling, finally being able to fully close his hand with no trouble. It still felt cold to the touch though. His very soul felt cold. It had been without a flame to ignite it for a while now. The flame had burnt out long ago from being overused, just as he overworked himself now. Lloyd sighed. What could possibly bring back his old spirits? In that same minute as he contemplated the question, Ninten opened the door with a mug in his hand. He could smell what it was from the corner of the room. “You-”  
  
“Teleported to my house and made you hot cocoa? The answer is yes.” Ninten presented the hot cocoa in front of Lloyd as if it were the Holy Grail, and right now it was in their eyes. Lloyd gingerly wrapped his hands around the mug, feeling the sting of the heat against the coldness which would soon ebb away. He took a sip. Almost instantly his body unfroze and felt that fire inside his heart once more. 

“Mmmm. This is really good!” He remarked. At this Ninten chuckled. He was glad. He sat down next to Lloyd and draped his arm around him. “You just have this lying around at home?”  
“Yuh huh.” Lloyd found himself scrunching closer to Ninten instinctively, the weight of the bean bag shifting to the right. His very presence was comforting, and he was much warmer than Lloyd. It could best be described as sitting in front of a fire. Now he was one with the fire too. As he took another sip of the hot cocoa, Ninten commented on this. “You’re really close, yanno.”  
  
“I know.” Lloyd looked away, heat rushing to his cheeks. “I can move away if you want.”  
  
“No no! It’s… it’s cool. Yeah, it’s whatever. Hehe.” Ninten looked away too, feeling a blush creep on him. There were a lot of things on his mind, and a lot of them he had never told anyone about. Young love was a strange thing. It hardly made sense, but it was there, and it wouldn’t go away. He tried to get it off his mind by asking the question he was supposed to ask in the first place. “So… want to talk now about why you were on the roof?” 

“Alright.” In one heartfelt motion, Lloyd began chugging the hot cocoa, before bringing it back down and trying to reach forward to place it on a desk. The mug fell out of Lloyd’s hands and magically made its way to sitting on the desk. As Lloyd talked, he once again stared at the ceiling. “You know how I sometimes like to go up there to fix things, right? Or maybe you didn’t but you do now. I was doing my usual thing, and it was going great until the temperature began to drop and the nighttime wind came along. I got cold so fast, but I couldn’t quit. It would look bad if I quit. I would’ve failed.”  
  
“That’s not true.”  
  
“But to everyone else it is. Look at me Nin: everyone knows I’m a genius. I’m always getting A’s or A+’s without fail. People pick on me solely because I’m smart and wear glasses, even. I was even bumped a grade higher, to your grade, because of it. People call me talented and gifted and all sorts of things but… I hate it. I must sound like a jerk, being upset over this. I can’t help it. People are always telling me to amount to this and amount to that and I _never_ get to have a break. _Ever._ Expectation after expectation after expectation until I even began believing I needed to do better. I’m never good enough, not for anyone. It’s not…” Lloyd sniffled. He felt a lump forming in his throat. He fought against it. “It’s not what I want. I don’t want to be smart. I want to be stupid. I want to be normal. I can’t stop thinking so lowly about myself. I’ve read up on it. I’m losing my faith in myself because of how furious I’m becoming at my work and myself. I’ve probably… probably overworked myself to exhaustion more than once now. Nothing is good enough now, I’ll never be good enough for anything. It doesn’t matter how much effort I put in. I… I just…” He couldn’t keep talking. He couldn’t, no matter what. “I don’t want to cry.” He grit his teeth, gripping onto the bean bag so tightly his knuckles turned white.   
  
“Why not?” Ninten softly asked. 

“Because…” Lloyd took in a deep breath, but it came out into broken down exhales. “Because it would make me look weak.” Tears were beginning to obscure his vision. Gently, Ninten took off Lloyd’s glasses and placed them on the ground away from the two. Not like it made any difference to Lloyd’s vision as of right now. He didn’t stop Ninten when he pulled him into a tight hug. “I don’t want to be weak anymore…”

“It’s okay to cry Lloyd. I know you don’t think so but don’t be afraid to. I could care less if you do.”  
“Why are you so _nice_?” Lloyd quietly hissed, because it was too hard to talk in any other way. 

“Lloyd, I know I sound like a broken record, but you’re my best friend. Maybe… even a little more than that. Always will be.” Ninten paused. “Is it not right for me to treat you like one? You may not believe it, but I’ll always look out for you. I promise.” Lloyd couldn’t take it anymore. Ninten’s words shattered the dam and all his tears bursted through it. He hugged back Ninten, tightly clutching onto the back of his jacket as he allowed himself to sob. He buried his face into his chest. He let his tears stain Ninten’s shirt while Ninten rubbed his back in an effort to help calm him down. “Try and breathe, Lloyd.” Ninten said when Lloyd’s breathing started going out of rhythm. It felt like he’d never stop crying. Time slowed to a crawl, allowing him to let go for as long as he pleased. Exhaustion set in from the crying. He couldn’t hold onto Ninten any longer, and let his arms fall to the ground. Sniffles and uneven, sharp breaths kept the silence from creeping up on the two. Lloyd felt… safe. He wasn’t sure if that was the right word, but it’s the first one that came to mind. He had no desire to move, or even speak. His crying finally began to subside, the end result leaving a large spot drenched in tears on Ninten’s shirt. “Feel better?”  
  
“Yeah.” Lloyd said. His words were slightly muffled. “Kind of.” He felt Ninten take a hand off his back and use it to lift his chin, so he could look at Ninten square in the eyes. Lloyd’s eyes were gray and dull, but here they looked blue from the reflection. Without warning, Ninten closed the gap and softly pressed his lips on Lloyd’s forehead, giving him a little kiss with a relaxed smile. Lloyd’s eyes went wide, his face replicating the look of a tomato. “Why did you do that?!” He demanded. Ninten laughed.

“Well, my mom did always say a quick kiss can help make the worries go away. Or something like that. Did it work?” Lloyd nodded, but he also had something else on his mind now. 

“Are you saying that to cover up the fact that you like me?”   
“Ehhhhhh??!! Who said I did?!” 

“It’s obvious really. You’re always asking to be my partner when we work in groups of two. You seem to be the most happy around me.” Lloyd rubbed his eyes. “That thing your cheeks do when they flare up is called blushing. You tend to do that around me too.”  
  
“I know what blushing is! Uuuuuugh, I wanted it to look cool when I told you though! I just couldn’t help myself, you still looked sad and I wasn’t sure what else to do! You blush around me too so you can’t get out of this scot free!” It was amazing how quickly the mood could change around these two, from sadness to joy. 

“So… you really do like me then?”

“Absolutely! I had no idea when to tell you though. I don’t even know how to explain it.” Ninten got quiet. Lloyd, on the other hand, felt like he might cry again, this time tears of happiness. His eyes lit up. “I guess I don’t really have a choice now. Lloyd,” Ninten began, triumphantly. “ _I love you_ , and I really hope you’re cool with that.”  
  
“Cool with that? Of course I am!” A tear went down his face again.  
“Wait, I didn’t mean to make you cry!” Ninten was taken aback by the tear, but Lloyd just laughed it off.

“No, you don’t understand! It’s a happy tear!” Their smiles were as wide as possible. The negative energy had passed and was gone. Laughter echoed through the empty halls and rooms, until it finally died down. Lloyd sighed. He reached over and planted his own kiss on Ninten’s cheek, prompting Ninten to turn red. “There. Now I’ve returned the favor.” Suddenly, Lloyd found himself yawning. God, everything was happening so fast he didn’t realize how tired he was. Ninten seemed to share the same sentiment, finding it hard to keep his eyes open. “I can’t begin to express how glad I am you came.” Lloyd’s sentence drifted off. He stopped fighting the numbness spreading in his body and embraced the warmth which encased him and Ninten. His smile never faded.   
  
“Yeah yeah. It’s what friends do. Or I guess I _could_ say boyfriend. I dunno how it works though. What do you think, can I start calling you that? Too soon? Hello? Lloyd? Earth to Lloyd?” He looked down to find Lloyd asleep. His legs uncurled and fell off the bean bag on their own. He didn’t dare move, not wanting to destroy Lloyd’s peace, but he did move him up higher so he’d be more comfortable. Not like he wanted to move himself. “Huh. Guess I’m sleeping here tonight.” His parents would be worried, so would Lloyd’s, but that wasn’t on his mind. He could care less what they thought. In this moment, nothing mattered more than Lloyd feeling safe. “I’m sorry I didn’t help sooner.” Ninten whispered, but he was given no response. That was fine, he really needed to get those words out was all. He took off his hat and put it on Lloyd, a final act before turning his head to the stars beaming outside the window. The lights were switched off with the flick of a wrist, and the world faded from obscurity. Ninten watched the stars until he finally fell asleep, never letting go of Lloyd even in his sleep. 


End file.
